An Uphill Battle for “Up for Whatever”
- celacashel
- Nov 11, 2021
- 2 min read
One of the most important aspects of public relations and marketing is knowing the audience. This allows marketers to create content that fits the audience’s needs and inspires engagement, which promotes the product. For example, people who drink beer tend to want to go out and have fun with friends, therefore most beer advertisements are exciting, light-hearted, and fun, which fits with beer-drinkers' desires. These advertisements can be very successful, however, companies must be careful when promoting alcohol due to all of the tragic events that often take place because of alcohol consumption, such as drunk driving, abuse, and rape. When a company slips up and is insensitive to these issues, it is likely to result in significant damage to their reputation.
This is what happened to Bud Light in 2015. In their “Up for Whatever” campaign, Bud Light promoted spontaneous adventure and saying “yes” to whatever experiences one may encounter. To promote their campaign, Bud Light printed messages on the labels of their beer bottles, but one message didn’t quite hit the mark, describing Bud Light as “the perfect beer for removing ‘no’ from your vocabulary for the night.” The message instantly sparked backlash from general public, who claimed the message was “rapey” and advertised rape culture. One social media user even described Bud Light as “the official beer of Bill Cosby.” Clearly, this message did not land the way Bud Light intended it to.
The Bud Light bottle with the message that resulted in intense backlash.
To their credit, Bud Light responded very quickly after the story surfaced. Lisa Weser, Senior Director of U.S. Marketing Communications for Anheuser-Busch, quickly released a statement of apology, as did the Vice President of Bud Light, Alexander Lambrecht. However, significant damage was done to their brand. Because rape and alcohol consumption are often connected, people were shocked that Bud Light didn’t notice the insensitivity in their message.
There are several key takeaways from this campaign. First of all, a quick response to a crisis is imperative, therefore being prepared with a crisis communication plan is essential. However, a quick response doesn’t fix everything, as the damage has already been done. It is critical for marketers to really think through their ideas and get input from a group of diverse individuals to avoid making blunders such as this one. Gathering opinions from people of all ages, ethnicities, beliefs, religions, and genders, allows one to see things from a different perspective, therefore covering all of the bases when it comes to how a message may be interpreted by different people. Overall, being prepared with a crisis plan and being intentional and thoughtful with marketing messages is the best thing marketers and public relations specialists can do to avoid crises.
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